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From the ends of the earth I call to you,I call as my heart grows faint;lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” –Psalm 61:1-2 (See the whole Psalm; it’s beautiful!)

This season is a joyful one, but it can also be overwhelming. School finals. Christmas shopping. Decorating. Seeing family. Trying to organize everything. Work. More school.

In the chaos, sometimes we forget that God is here. He doesn’t just want to be a part of our happy moments; he’s with us in the overwhelming ones, too. So today, let’s realize that wherever we are, standing in line at a department store, taking that final exam, talking to someone…God is there and he is hearing our words and our hearts.

And he is higher. Higher than whatever we’re facing. He sees all and knows all and has the best perspective.

He’s also crazy about us, crazy enough to send his only Son down to earth so that we could have eternal life with him.

That’s what we’re actually celebrating, right?

So today, and this season, let’s not get so caught up in the Christmas lights and wrapping paper that we lose sight of the one true Light who gave his life for our eternity with him.

And when we do feel overwhelmed in those stressful moments, let’s turn to Jesus, acknowledging his presence and sovereignty, and see what he has to say to us in those times.

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Yesterday, I had the honor of performing in a very powerful show called “Beyond the Night.” I learned so much from this experience and will definitely write more on it later, but for today I want to point out something that I tend to forget:

Jesus loves us.

Yesterday, we were rehearsing the scene where Jesus is crucified. It was just a handful of us in a little blackbox theatre, holding poles and drumsticks…& as I watched the actor playing Jesus get beaten again and again, with shouts of “Crucify him!!,” I realized just how much Jesus went through. And I wasn’t playing the sweet friend of Christ who was mourning his horrendous death. I portrayed someone on the other side of things, shouting for him to be crucified…and yet Christ still died even for those people.

I’m one of those people. Every time I lie, get jealous, disobey my parents, am rude or impatient, I go against God’s commands. The Word says in Romans 5:10, “ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” We were his enemies, and yet he gave us his all, dying for every one of our failures.

Jesus didn’t die because he had to. He chose to die in our place because he loves us. His desire is to be with us for eternity.

Our God is all-powerful & death is no match for him, so the grave didn’t hold our Jesus.

So today, let’s celebrate his love. All the lashing, the beating, the mocking, the process of a humiliating and grueling death…he did it because he loves us. Me. You.

And death couldn’t stop him from rising again to spend eternity with us.

Sometimes, life gets disappointing. This week has certainly had some of those, “You’ve got to be kidding me…why?!” moments. So here are a few things I’m learning on dealing with frustration, disappointment, and all that jazz.

1—God is still God. Sometimes, in my frustration with situations, I forget that he is sovereign and above it all. He is LORD and deserves all the praise and glory in the universe, plus so much more!

2—Keep my eyes open. On Monday, I was pretty bummed about some stuff…but God kept showing me his love. I opened FaceBook and saw this devotional my friend had written that was exactly what I needed to hear and included perfect Bible verses (shown below). Another friend posted something else about trusting the Lord and his timing, and shared Proverbs 3:5-6. Some school things went well, and my family really blessed me. All these things are from the Lord, since James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” Instead of just going through our days like normal, let’s ask God to show us more of his love and himself. And let’s be on the lookout for those glimpses all day long!

3—I don’t have the right to judge. I don’t see the big picture. I don’t know what is going on in people’s personal lives and hearts. So, instead of judging and comparing, I can rest and allow my Heavenly Father to be the Judge and Ruler of all. That title is his, not mine.

4—God is sovereign and in control. He is working out what is best for his people (Romans 8:28) and what will glorify his Name. I can trust him. I can trust that whatever is going on, my Daddy’s got my back.

5—I can look forward to my “delightful inheritance” (Psalm 16…read it! It’s amazing to pray and read.) in Christ. Ultimately, my fulfillment comes from Jesus alone. In Colossians God tells us, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness…For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.” In the end, we’ve won the battle and are His. I don’t need a good job, perfect grades, new car, best friends, boyfriend, money, or anything else to be “okay”…because everything I need is in Jesus, and Jesus is here, waiting to talk with me.

Here are some verses that really encourage me. I hope they encourage you, too! I’d highly recommend Colossians as a whole…it’s so hard to choose only a couple of verses from it to share! 🙂

”Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” –Colossians 3:1-4 (NIV)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.[a]

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and shun evil.This will bring health to your body
and nourishment to your bones.” –Proverbs 3:5-8 (NIV)

“And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.” –1 Samuel 12:21-22 (ESV)

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” –Philippians 3:12 (ESV)

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” –Galatians 5:1

What if I make a mistake? What if people see it? This week I noticed that I’m afraid to fail. I was singing during rehearsal the other day; I had just gotten a song to perform for the show I’m in. I was so scared that my voice would crack, my pitch would be flat, or I’d look like a freak. I focused on completing the song, and it ended up being enjoyable, but thinking about it now I wish I had simply let go of the fear.

Because when I’m focused on not failing, I’m blind to so much. I’m allowing myself to be burdened by fear and failure. My eyes are turned down, watching my feet to make sure I don’t trip. I don’t look up and see the possibilities of joy, success, hope…and freedom.

God’s love for us is not based on our performance for him. He doesn’t love us any less if we mess up. He gives us a lot of liberty in his Word. I’m not saying we’re supposed to fail, but rather that we don’t have to be afraid of failing. We don’t need to let our fear of failure keep us from enjoying life to the fullest (John 10:10).

Today, let’s run our races with our eyes fixed on the Son of God. Let’s enjoy this life, and when we fail let’s praise God for forgiving us, get back up, hold onto Jesus’s hand, and keep runnin’.

Today is an adventure and a gift, given to us by the King of Light who identifies himself as our Daddy. Let’s enjoy it! 🙂

I’m taking a World History class at the local junior college this semester, which is about as thrilling as it sounds. However, there are some pretty interesting concepts and ideas to discuss. This past Monday, however, we got off on a major tangent. Every course usually has (at least) one person who’s just a little different and a tad disruptive. This class is no exception. I call him Kirk, because he acts and sounds exactly like the Kirk from Gilmore Girls (for any fans out there 😉 ). Basically, he’s just quite quirky and asks questions randomly throughout the lecture. The questions are intelligent and do have a scrap of relevance, but…they can be pretty distracting and lead us down some funny rabbit trails.

So, our classroom is almost like a movie theater in its seating (the comparison stops there), with slanted rows of seats that fold back. Well, most of the seats fold back. There’s one desk at the back of the classroom that’s higher than everything else. That’s where Kirk sits. We’re all lower than he is, so when you look back all you see is:

So that’s not weird at all…

Now, on Monday we were supposed to be talking about feudalistic European society. Kirk raised his hand, and the prof called on him rather reluctantly. Kirk then asked a question about the comparison of European discord and the Sunni and Shiite controversy in Islam. I glanced back at the other students, and one poor guy was trying hard not to fall asleep but failing…here’s what he looked like:

I enjoy making funny faces and this is the perfect opportunity for that. You’re welcome.

Sometimes things happen in life that disrupt our schedule. I highly doubt that my prof planned to end up lecturing on the origins of Christmas on Monday. But when those life disruptions happen, we have options. We can close our eyes and pretend it isn’t happening and barrel ahead with our plans, we can get frustrated and agitated and stress out ourselves and everyone around us…or we can chuckle, sit back, and enjoy what God brings along our paths. Lately I’ve been learning to sit back and let go of the control in my life. I tend to fight for control because I love to know what’s going on. But what if, just like in my history class, I learn to shake my head, smile, and see what comes next? Now, I’m not saying we should passively watch life go by and not intervene, but I think sometimes we hold on to our planners a little too tightly, and we aren’t open for little disruptions that might be God’s plan of reaching someone, giving somebody a break, or bringing joy. So today, and tomorrow, and this whole week, let’s change our eyesight to see disruptions as interesting spots in God’s plan. 🙂

Happy Saturday! As we head into this Thanksgiving season, I wanted to share with you all something my Mom told me. She reminded me not to merely focus on the gifts, but to focus on the Giver.

Sometimes we make lists of things we’re thankful for, but we forget to actually thank the One who gave them to us.

Maybe right now, you look around and don’t see that many things to be thankful for in the first place. It can be tough to celebrate Thanksgiving when we’re feeling pretty low. But think about it–right now we have the ability to read these words on this screen.

We can go outside and enjoy the vast beauty our Savior made for us to dwell in.

We can shout the name of our King Jesus as loudly as we want, and we don’t have to worry about getting arrested for our faith.

And, no matter how crazy this life gets, we know that this world isn’t everything. We have hope; we know Hope because He saved us and rescued us and will spend eternity with his people one day. 💛
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”
‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6:19-20‬ ‭

“…and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:12-14‬ ‭